The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) has announced the loss of about $500 million in revenue since February 2022 due to a sharp decline in ticket sales caused by foreign airlines' money being trapped in the country and preventing them from doing business.
Last year, the airline industry had a foreign exchange liquidity crisis that prevented foreign airlines from remitting money from tickets purchased in naira, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) $265 million intervention in August. Due to this, foreign airlines have stopped offering affordable rates of airfare, forcing passengers to pay up to 200 percent more for tickets.
According to Susan Akopriaye, president of NANTA,
the aviation sector lost between $450 million and $500 million in income in
2022 compared to 2021, and the stalled fund situation also resulted in the loss
of over 750,000 jobs in the business.
"The consequence is that a lot of air travelers
are now sourcing for affordable tickets in neighboring countries and
overseas." This means that they are boycotting travel agencies in Nigeria,
not paying the five percent passenger charges to Nigeria, and depriving the economy
of revenue, yet they are Nigerians flying out of Nigeria. On account of that,
only 30 percent of the tickets used last year were bought in Nigeria; the rest
were from outside the country. "The only finger gaining in the value chain
is that of the foreign airlines, and that is a reason the government should be
worried," Akporiaye stated.
She added that it is only in Nigeria that foreign
airlines are demanding as much as $2000 for an economy class ticket,
"which is a rip-off on Nigerians."
"Agencies are now forced to fold, leave the country, or try to use other neighboring countries to sell to their customers." "The Nigerian travel market continues to be at the losing end with the airlines being indifferent to the plight of travelers, and as a body, we are left with no option but to call on the government to be more strategic, deliberate, and direct in resolving this multifaceted dilemma," she stated.
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